All Reviews by normb
The Big Bounce
by Walter S. Tevis
Addendum;
I knew this sounded familiar. It is the basis for the movie "The Absent Minded Professor" with Fred McMurray. Out in 1961.
The professor invented "flubber" a rubber that had it's own energy and bounced without force. Used it to fly around, and put it in his in his Ford get it airborne. The story itself is still pretty lame though.
The Creature from Beyond Infinity
by Henry Kuttner
Yup, Agree with Allan Loewen, the last reviewer. 40's pulp. Want to go out to the alien spaceship in orbit (the one that houses the offworlder that wants to find geniuses on earth? Simply build an antigravity ship in your lab. No problema! It's about colliding courses of the scientist of the present fighting off the vampire plague and the alien whose civilization was destroyed and want's to recreate it on earth by culling intelligence and talent as he stays in stasis in orbit to periodically wake and check for smarts below. Unfortunately his choices of smart humans isn't too smart itself, and they wind up in present day earth bedeviling the erstwhile scientist trying to cope with the plague.
All comes together in pulp fashion and the good guy gets the girl too.
Craphound
by Cory Doctorow
A very interesting and even touching short story. It's about a friendship between an Earthman and an alien who are memorabilia (crap) hunters. The aliens have affected the dynamic of memorabilia and some of it is now quite valuable. The story bypasses the usual panic and fear tales about first contact, and gets down the fundamental principles and give and take involved in getting what you want and need while your friends also get what they want and need even if your friends are strange aliens.
The Cosmic Computer
by H. Beam Piper
Conn Maxwell has left his planet of Poictesme to train as a computer specialist in the Terran Federation. He returns depressed to his home town of Lichfield, aware that the economy is in a sorry state. Terran Federation has had a war with and outplanet alliance and Poictesme was prepared to fight off a major offensive which never came. Poectesme has been left as a backwater. Conn decides to use all the military hardware abandoned by Terra and outfit ships to sell it offworld along with other unique local products. The book is then taken up with the trade affairs of the poictesme; who finances the endeavor, where they will get the material, how to fight the outlaws that control spaceports where ships and hardware are abandoned.....
Overriding the capitalism and trade issues is the almost mystic belief that the Terran Federation has created an omniscient computer named the Merlin Project to help with the war, which if found, could resolve and help with all the local problems-even run the government and define religion in the view of some fringe groups. There is a suspicion it is on or near Poictesme. Does it exist, or is it just a myth? Will they find it? What will they ask it if they do? What might it do or say? Conn has some info about the project (or lack of a project) that he learned on Terra that he is keeping close to the vest.....
Comment: This is an interesting story but it is divided between the computer quest and the somewhat bogged down space business affairs. Fans of galactic empire building computer games may like it, But in my view, there is much too much "who did what" to get money or manage assets in the stock market to allow the purchase or outfitting of yet another ship. Almost gets like a Tolstoy novel trying to keep the characters straight. Otherwise worth a read.
The Concrete Jungle
by Charles Stross
This book is like Ghost-Busters on steroids. Dead cows! call out the Anti-possession unit which ultimately defines the Gorgon stare (is it a particle or wave?) and puts it on Great Britain's ubiquitous surveillance cameras to ward off invasion from space and catch the perps which I think turn out to be zombies (mostly). Did I get that right? I'm not really sure.
It was difficult for me to tease out the plot in what is the talkiest story since debating class. The characters are constantly yakking, using a mixture of high tech and supernatural allusions. Sometimes they mix them up more than once in a single sentence and then go straying off for pages. They converse constantly and frequently, often off the point, even when performing in stressful or dangerous situations. A lot of the stuff is clearly meant to be humorous and pokes fun at bureaucracy, technology and mythology. However, I found reading it somewhat of a slog, and at the end I was really ready for the the characters to just shut up.
If you like this postmodern kind of science fiction, I think Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash) or George Allec Effinger (When Gravity Fails) are much more focused, fun to read, and have far more interesting and coherent plots.
The Colors of Space
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Lhari are the first space faring race, have made contact with humans and established spaceports and trade. There is just one problem; they are keeping the secrets of their space drive to themselves. Humans are resentful and feel like second class citizens. The Lhari use humans on starship trips, but put them in deep sleep during warp drive, ostensibly to protect them from death due to exposure to the drive's effects.
Bart Steele a 17 year old novice astrogator is in a Lhari spaceport to meet his father, but quickly becomes embroiled in a plot to wrest the secret of the drive from the Lhari. At first he shares the human prejudice against the Lhari, but contact with them in an intimate way (which I won't give away) allows him to get to know them and see both sides of the issue. This then puts his humanity and courage to the extreme test.
Comment; This is a great story with a satisfying and positive ending. The protagonist embarks on a "mini quest" which not only changes and matures him, but in doing so, enriches the relationship between both the Lhari and human races as well.
Code Three
by Rick Raphael
Get in Buelah, the massive 60 ft long freeway cruiser and patrol the law enforcement lane of tomorrows freeways with 2 male troopers and a female EMT in this Heinleinesque novella.
The freeways are a mile wide with lanes crossing over from 100mph to 400mph. The cruiser patrols the middle lane and in addition to being jet powered, had a an emergency surgery, food and sleeping quarters for the crew, a crane, and much more stuff including monitoring gear and a pair of .25 cal machine guns mounted up front. Hand out citations, clear wrecks, rescue people, fight the bad guys deliver a baby and chuckle at the repressed sexual tension between the crewmembers.
Have fun!
City at World's End
by Edmond Hamilton
Thrust a million or more years into the future by a superatomic blast, the town of Middleton is now surrounded by a cold, bleak landscape and a dying sun. The survivors find a deserted domed city and take up residence, but their future is uncertain at best. Broadcasts for help, at first unanswered, finally bear fruit when humans from the stars come to rescue and relocate them. But in a strange illogical but very human way, they don't want to be relocated. Now they must face something that hasn't changed in a million years; Bureaucracy! Find out how they make allies with other species and slap the pusses of the bureaucrats in a valiant effort to save their dying Earth.
A good read.
The Burning Bridge
by Poul William Anderson
The fleet of Earth is bound for a distant planet to colonize. The colonists have left because of political and social discrimination. Closer to say they were kicked off.
The burn has taken them to 1/2 C and they are many decades out and coasting They are about at the midpoint of their journey and losing contact with earth. Most are in life suspension.
Unexpectedly, a message is received from Earth which details a change in the political situation ending a key discriminatory issue. They should be welcome again.
Do they continue to the unsettled planet and suffer the deprivation and dangers of a new environs? Or to turn back, knowing Earth is decades away and each day they delay a decision puts them many hundreds of thousands of miles distant from it. Will the change be there when they return? Which is the wiser decision?
The captain, crew and colonists must decide, but all have their fears and prejudices which guide their actions in a typically human way. Their flaws and dysfunctions are detailed well. All the while they are getting further and further from Earth, hoping for a confirmatory transmission.
The Captain bears ultimate responsibility, and must be decisive. He looks for guidance in an unlikely place and acts......
Comment;
The story is kind of a downer. The characters aren't really happy with anything much. There is a great deal of detail given to the mechanics of their travel. This underpins and builds the literary base for the tense environment of the human interest element which involves the need to make a difficult life decision.
Cat and Mouse
by Ralph Williams
A Warden of several agrarian planets has a problem on his hands; An nasty alien called the warn who is depleting all the game and is about to bud into many little nasty aliens.
He fears the warn's natural predators might make a bad infestation worse, so he turns to earth and opens a door between earth and the problem planet to get a human "predator" to hunt and kill the warn.
The door opens in Alaska and it entices a hardbitten Alaskan trapper/hunter/tracker/loner type to enter because of the promise of good hunting.
The warn and the Alaskan battle it out to the bitter end. No surprise who wins, but the battle is ever so much fun to follow.
But, I Don't Think
by Gordon Randall Garrett
In an incredibly rigid class society (we're talking much worse than Victorian England here) of allied planets, a "guesser" is necessary to get spaceships to ports through a gauntlet of classless pirates. He calculates by training and precognition where the enemy ships will be, and uses fire control to direct the ships weapons to the exact place they'll show up momentarily in order counter their defensive maneuvering.
On shore leave, something very bad happens to the Guesser, which I won't give away, and he must try to set it right one way or another.
The plot rolls right along till the somewhat disappointing ending. It is fun getting to understand the protagonist's class rank in the society and how it determines his actions, and this could be the first chapter of a really fun novel. Maybe it is, and I don't know about it. I think it's a disappointment that Mr. Garrett has created such an interesting and detailed universe but doesn't follow up. Read it anyway.
Burn
by James Patrick Kelly
This is a very good read; very well crafted.
The setting is Walden, a planet taken over by minimalist agrarian oriented colonists. They wrested the planet from the Pukpuks, who were technologically oriented, and basically raped the planet of natural resources. The Pukpuls are now waging a guerilla war against the Waldenites. The Waldenites are reforesting the planet and the Pukpuks are torching the forests, sometimes dying in the process by becoming "torches", using their own bodies to start fires. To confuse matters, some Waldenites support the PukPuks.
Our protaganist is Spur, a Gary Cooper of quiet guy who is a volunteer firefighter from a small village. He has been severely burned trying to save his brother-in-law who was evidently a "torch" working for the Pukpuks. He has nightmares about his brother-in-law. How does he tell his wife after promising to protect him. Firefighting seems to be a losing battle, his wife is divorcing him, and he really is confused, not really understanding the momentous events going on around him or how to respond.
To help healing, he contacts the "upsiders" who are very strange technologically sophisticated off planet humans inhabiting a large number of settled worlds. They provide a robot doctor bot to heal him and come to Walden to check out what is going on. Big doings for the simple farmer Waldenites who have proscribed most technology in their simple lives.
The middle of the story seems slow, taken up with character development, at first seeming like a soap opera, but designed for the reader to get to know the characters well. And you will get to liking and identifying with them.
A fire ensues, threatening his village, Spur tries to control it, doubting his abilities, but using his training until help arrives.
During the chaotic fire and the firefighting, secret agendas are revealed involving the the off planet upsiders, Spur's wife and the Pukpuks which lead to a very interesting and surprising ending.
Breaking Point
by James E. Gunn
It's a bit hard to describe this psychological mindbender without giving away too much. I'll try. The human exploration crew lands on a beautiful earthlike planet in a ship that is designed to be totally impervious to malfunction and attack. It is however, not capable of stopping a psychological attack on the crew from the planet's residents. What kind of how-de-do is that to visitors? What do they want, and why have they mounted telepathic attacks to break the crew down with hallucinations of their deepest fears? This is kind of a Virginia Wolf of a science fiction story as the stressed out crew start in on each other. Can the crew resolve the attack, and what does their response have to do with the psychological makeup of the crew itself?
That's enough to get started.
Brain Twister
by Gordon Randall Garrett
I agree with the other reviewers; a fun read.
The most celebrated FBI agent is recruited to catch a telepath in the Yucca Flats Research Lab who is selling national secrets. The agent has been very successful in past cases, but he really feels rather low, because he thinks he is just lucky and not good. He caries this attitude throughout the story, acting like a depressed puppy.
So how do you catch a telepath? With another telepath, of course. There is a stop along the way to check out a catch-22 telepath detector machine which will only detect if someones mind is being read, maybe. The nationwide search for telepaths turns up several, but unfortunately, they are all in mental institutions and loonier than Bugs Bunny. The FBI boss orders the agents to humor the crazy telepaths (one not so crazy after all) so they will help catch the criminal.
From there, the story takes you along with the Queen of England and her costumed court (the FBI agents), a buxom nurse, a night in Vegas complete with a car chase and attempted shooting, and finally the showdown in the Flats.
Fun.
The Pygmy Planet
by Jack Williamson
The days of the eccentric scientist and his/her private lab are in full bloom. He has created a pygmy planet to study evolution. He even constructed a tiny plane to fly to the planet which can be used for exploration after everyone and the plane gets totally shrunk down by his machine. Unfortunately the planet has become populated by nasty flying crystal and metal beings who want to sacrifice humans to their god-who happens to be an ancient steam hammer! Oy! how to free the damsel and return to earth before she is squished.....
Pulp, pulp, pulp. Fun if you like it.
Acid Bath
by Vaseleos Garson
Whoa Jon Karyl. Shoot the steel blues that are attacking your asteroid. Who are they? Who knows? What do they want? Who knows? Will you find out? No! Can you kill them Yes! With water!
Do you care after reading this piece of trash? No!
Blindsight
by Peter Watts
Well, I didn't like this book and couldn't finish it (which is a rarity for me). I'll tell you why. First, let me say that Peter Watts is a terrific wordsmith. Crisp, clear well put together writing. I also liked the concepts. Very clever, creative and philosophically interesting.
Now unfortunately, the criticism. There are endless and unnecessary allusions to technological items and concepts that have no function in the story except possibly to express that the author is on the cutting edge and must show it. Oasa emitters, the noosphere, synthesist, meme management, Parker Spiral (with a tesla reading of 11.2! is that bad?) Necker cubes and even allusions to game theory. And this is only in the first few chapters. How many of you are familiar with games theory? It is highly technical mathematical probability based grid analysis constructed to find a nexus to win a zero sum game. It served as an adjunct (though incorrectly described) to a decision in the story. It was not necessary to invoke games theory in this story to augment the simple decision the characters needed to make with their own wetware.
In a Star Trek TV show you may have heard something like 'Captain it's engineering!... The plasma conduits have failed and the plasma flux must be re-routed to the warp coils.' We all know there are no such things (at least at present), but also sense correctly this a literary prop to let us know there is an emergency. In Blindsight, I questioned many, if not most of these props, and felt they were not really relevant or necessary in this way.
What I felt as I read, reminded me of reading an essay by a professorial author who in describing his concepts, laces his text with arcane phrases in foreign languages simply to let you know he is a professor. As if the subtlety and clarity of his own understanding won't permit expressing these nuances in plain English. I know this is harsh, but when reading Blindsight, I felt sort of like I was constantly being pimped in this way, and for me, it really got in the way of the story. A good tale is a good tale, and really doesn't need this kind of embellishment.
If you take this book on, just be aware that you are in for quite a lot of this technobabble.
In fairness, I am going to read other books by Mr. Watts to see if the concepts are devoted the imaginative and complex situations he can obviously create, but without the other Baggage.
Beyond Lies the Wub
by Philip K. Dick
The spacers have had food spoilage so they go hunting on a planet landfall and capture a "wub"; a sloppy appearing piglike animal that should be good for a pork loin dinner or 2. Here's the wub (sorry). It's intelligent and likes to talk philosophy. Not what the hungry crewmembers really want. So who gets the upper hand? Can the wub talk it's way out of the pot? What other talents might it have? You'll see...
The Big Bounce
by Walter S. Tevis
"What are you up to Farnsworth?" (Farnsworth?).
Farnsworth has created a rubber ball he hoped would be an eraser, but he messed up and the new rubber compound takes heat energy out of it's surroundings and uses it to bounce higher and higher. It becomes a danger, bouncing ever higher out of control. They chase it, finally to find it kills itself by hitting the ground so hard it makes a crater and breaks into pieces. They then bury the pieces to prevent a repeat. Who are these guys anyway? They live in San Francisco; I don't know, does that explain any of it?
Well, I disagree with the last reviewer. I think this story is ridiculous, and not worth a read. At least it's mercifully short. Do you hear me Farnsworth! I am going to write a story about a chicken liver that can play scrabble!
Bad Medicine
by Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley's stories are usually pretty amusing and this is no exception. It is considered a classic. A schizophrenic man has an irresistible compulsion to murder his best friend, Magnesson. He realizes he is disturbed, and goes in to buy a therapy machine. They are made by General Motors. (that's good for a laugh if nothing else is in this story). He exits with a floor model which the noob salesman doesn't know is designed to give only Martian aliens therapy.
He takes it home and interacts. The therapy machine doesn't understand. It thinks the problem is that he doesn't honor his Gloricae, the tree that nourished him from birth. He replies "no tree nourished me" And so on.
but therapy is completed, and.......Well, you'll just have to read what happened. 5 stars for being a 50's classic short story that has endured, and good for a yuk or two.
Badge of Infamy
by Lester del Rey
The entitlement crowd has finally won. Government has grown enormous to satisfy them for their votes, and very few actually work. (sound familiar)? Worse, lobbies grew in parallel with government and figured out that if they consolidated, they'd rule it all-and so they did. The medical lobby controls all medical care, and their physicians are a bunch of bureaucratic dimwits who could care less about their patients. All significant medical care must be performed in approved Lobby hospitals or under Lobby surveillance at least.
Doc Feldman, a caring doctor married the Daughter of the grand poobah of the medical lobby and has been labelled a "pariah" by the Lobby for performing emergency surgery outside of a hospital to try to save the life of a friend. If he is caught practicing medicine again, well... the penalty may be death! He is hounded by his wife who wants him punished. They are separated because of his "transgression". (I guess the good samaritan law got repealed)
He wanders, penniless and unemployable, but gets a crewman's ticket to Mars from a dead spacer. Mars is a crude frontier colony and they shelter him from the medical lobby as he dedicates himself to caring for the Martians.
He comes across the first martian disease which threatens not only Mars but Earth as well and embarks on a search for a cure with a few test tubes and a stethoscope; all the while being hounded by the Lobby and his wife.
Comment; The story is Ok, the social commentary about the way the world went may cause some pucker to anyone today who follows current events, but the medical science is totally stupid.
And, If I were Doc Feldman, I'd have killed my Bi*ch of a wife in chapter one-or any subsequent chapter she pops up in. Like a prior reviewer said. 'Not up to Del Ray's standard.
Attention Saint Patrick
by Murray Leinster
Eire; it's a planet for the Irish. Faith and Begorra, there's a problem. Dinosaur like lizards ranging from 2 inches to huge on this fey colony. Now a space faring Irish human civilization should be able to take care of these native fauna, and they were able to isolate the biggies on an offshore island. But.... The wee ones are a real bother. They have teeth made of boron carbide and a taste for iron. Chew the nails right out of your house and the staples from your shoes. Eat your tractors and anything else made of iron. Underfoot and destructive. Saint Patrick was famous for chasing the snakes out of Ireland, but on Eire.....well they were imported because they hunger for the little dinos. It's a real shock to the ambassador form Ireland who comes to Eire to see if continued support for the colony is warranted and--he doesn't like snakes at all!
His daughter, who has accompanied him, comes up with an crafty solution (you'll see) and all is eventually well on Ireland #2.
Kinda cute.
Attrition
by Jim Wannamaker
A whole survey team has gone missing on a newly discovered planet. They send a specialist to investigate the cause and make contact if possible. This quite short and somewhat simplistic story is about the course of his investigation and the results, which serve to point out that alien environments are always full of surprises for the unwary. The color backdrop is the investigator's prior relationship with captain of the spaceship that is commissioned to ferry him to the target planet, and though once his mentor, now must be under his command. Also lots of spaceship physics to make this a "hard" science fiction story.
Ventus
by Karl Schroeder
Ventus is a rich complicated Sci-Fi mixed fantasy novel.
The setting is the distant future on a planet called Ventus. Athousand years ago, Earth based civilization sent "mecha" (terraforming machines) which used nannites to prepare what was an inhospitable environment for human colonization. But when humans arrived, they found the planet full of plant and animal life; ideal for humans, but the machines themselves had changed and would not recognize humans or specifically their technology because the latter interfered with the mecha's main mission of ecological balance. The mecha created "swans" (formidable police entities) based on the nearby moon of Diadem to enforce the ecological balance. The result is a human civilization forced to live in a feudal society which is the rough equivalent of 18th century earth technologically.
After a thousand years, earth society has lost their knowledge how to create mecha and the Ventusians have lost full knowledge of just what the nanotechnoligy machines really are; they now worship them as "Winds."
They have struck a balance with the Winds, and can live and thrive in places the machines don't feel they are interfering. Some worship the Winds as Gods but most try to discern how to communicate or control them. Like any feudal society, Ventus is in the midst of a major war with the powers that be (Parliament) allied against a rouge queen who has some ability to communicate with the Winds and is changing the old order.
Into this tableau comes the first protagonist, Jordan, a young mason. Yes, his last name is Mason as well. At first he seems just a small cog in this feudal society....until he meets up with the second of several protagonists. 2 mercenary agents of earth civilization on Ventus to try to regain the knowledge of how to control the mecha. They are also in Ventus to destroy a competing agent named Armiger. Armiger is a human changed by a machine intelligence known only as 3340. 3340 was considered a grave danger to organic human life; 3340 co-opted humans, giving them godlike powers and then absorbing them into itself. Armiger is the last remaining agent of 3340 and is on Ventus to try to learn how to control the Winds. 3340 itself was destroyed by one of the above agents.
Jason has visions and can speak to the nannites of Ventus. They are because of implants from Armiger installed in several Ventusians to try to gain control of Ventus. Jason can see what Armiger sees. The Earth agents kidnap Jason to use his visions to find Armiger so they can direct their ship to their ship destroy him.
But Armiger is changing, and becoming more human......
Without giving more away, The clashing armies of Ventusian feudal civilization, The earth agent's ship's AI, and all the protagonists interact. Even the machines of Ventus are at war with themselves and represent major players in what is a philosophical dance and tug of war between competing organic and machine intelligence objectives .
A great read, except for something you have probably figured out already. There is too much stuff in this novel! It's all really interesting and incredibly creative, but the book is waaaay long and has too many competing interests for the reader to identify with one in a satisfying way. For this I take away one star, but strongly recommend it anyway.
Norm
Almuric
by Robert E. Howard
An abnormally strong human can't adapt to regular life. He is transported to a new world with viscious predators and tribes of humanoids stronger than him although not as dextrous or skilled in fighting. He exists, prevails, joins tribe, falls in love, unites warring tribes and defeats the evil winged monsters cementing his new life in the world of Almuric.
Good for 15 year old's and a fun read for any pulp fan.
Alone Again Or
by Michael Bassette
The setting is a post collapse city state after the plagues wiped out most of humanity. Only sterization machines keeps people healthy The cities are in decay and ruled by mayors with their local police force, although a loose continental government also exists. There are 2 protagonists. The first is a drug dealer in FOC, a mutation of COFfee which now acts like speed. FOC; COF, get it...
The second is a telepath hounded out of her home as a child by the anti telepathic mayoral police. Both are constantly trying to avoid the police. They eventually come together in a telepath's revolt and try to destroy the establishment. There are many literary side trips, but at the end the situation remains puzzlingly unresolved. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating worldset creation, good in depth character descriptions, and a very interesting read. BTW the author must have a really bad digestive problem, because practically every other page has one or another of the characters trying to hold back vomiting, actually ralphing, suffering from bile regurgitation or a bad heartburn. It's enough to put you off your food.
Norm
Anything You Can Do ...
by Gordon Randall Garrett
Yipe! it's the Nipe. a caterpillar shaped alien that is marooned on earth after a catastrophic failure of his starship. The Nipe is a very fast caterpillar (about 3 feet tall) and can kill and eat a human rikki-tik, before they know what hit them. He kills and eats for his own cultural reasons, but must be stopped, tamed and brought to heel. Who better than an artifically enhanced speeded up human who is one half of an strange identical twin set, the nature of which is rather confusing, even at the end of the tale.
Anyway there is the eventual showdown, but the most interesting part of this story is the human's monitoring of the Nipe and the analysis of the Nipe's alien mind and cultural behavior leading to a elegant strategy to defeat him before he can contact his buddies and flood earth with nasty, carnivorous, speedy caterpillars. Kinda fun read, but for the strange addition of the twins story.
Agent to the Stars
by John Scalzi
So you are an alien who is in the form of a gelatenous cube with pseudopods, and communicate by smells that turn the stomach of humans. You want to make friendly contact with the human race. How do you do it? Why hire a Hollywood agent to represent you of course. The harried agent takes the job to be the first to introduce the Yherajk to humans and needs to come up with a really good plan of presentation. The story then takes the reader for a really hilarious ride through scenarios such as the alien befriending and finally inhabiting the agent's neighbor's old dog when it gets a heart attack. And then it gets hired out to be a trained movie dog!
Many yuks at this very bright and light hearted story of first contact. Great fun. Thanks John Scalzi.